Rash's Surname Index
Notes for John Fries FRAZER
FRAZER, John Fries, educator, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., July 8, 1812; son of Robert and Elizabeth (Fries) Frazer; grandson of Lieutenant-Colonel Persifor and Mary Worral (Taylor) Frazer, and great-grandson of John and Mary (Smith) Frazer. His father (born in 1771, died in 1821) was graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1789, and became a lawyer, a member of the Pennsylvania assembly and district attorney of Delaware county. His grandfather, Persifor (born in 1736, died in 1792), was a merchant and iron-master till the outbreak of the Revolution; was commissioned captain of Company A, 4th battalion, Pennsylvania volunteers, commanded by Anthony Wayne; was subsequently major and lieutenant-colonel of the 5th Pennsylvania line, and at the close of the war was brigadier-general of militia. His great-grandfather, John (born in Ireland in 1709, died in 1765), removed to Philadelphia, and became a merchant trading with the West Indies. John Fries Frazer was graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1830 with valedictorian honors, having assisted Prof. Alexander Dallas Bache in laboratory work while an undergraduate. He studied medicine, but did not apply for a degree, and was subsequently admitted to the bar, but decided to devote his time to science. In 1836 he was appointed first assistant geologist in the geological survey of Pennsylvania, and in 1837 became professor of chemistry and natural philosophy in the Philadelphia high school. In 1844 he succeeded Professor Bache as professor of natural philosophy and chemistry in the University of Pennsylvania, and held the chair until his death. He was a life member of, and professor at the Franklin institute, Philadelphia, and vice-provost of the University of Pennsylvania, 1855-68. He was elected a member of the American philosophical society in 1842, its secretary in 1845 and was its vice-president, 1855-58. In 1863 he was one of the incorporators of the National academy of sciences. The University of Lewisburg (afterward Bucknell university) conferred upon him the degree of Ph.D. in 1854, and Harvard that of LL.D. in 1857. He is the author of treatises on light, heat, the steam engine, and mechanics, printed privately for the use of his classes, and he edited the Franklin Institute Journal, 1850-66. He was married to Charlotte Jeffers , daughter of Thomas Cave of Philadelphia, apothecary-general of the U.S. army, 1812-15. He died in Philadelphia, Pa., Oct. 12, 1872.
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